To mark the 80th anniversary of Auschwitz’s liberation, The Last Musician of Auschwitz tells the extraordinary story of cellist Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, along with other victims of the camp - Jews, Poles and Roma - who played and created music amidst the terrors of the Holocaust. Together they show how, amid the most brutal and dehumanising situations, music could be a lifeline, a way to give testimony and even a means of resistance.
An interview with the 99-year-old Lasker-Wallfisch, the only living survivor to have played in one of the camp orchestras, frames the documentary. It explores how the SS used and abused music at the Nazis’ largest concentration and extermination camp – demanding prisoner orchestras put on concerts for their entertainment as well as play marches to accompany slave labour groups leaving and returning each day, recalled by many as a grotesque form of torture.
The Last Musician of Auschwitz also highlights the stories of three other musicians from all over Europe: singer songwriter Ilse Weber and classical composers, Szymon Laks and Adam Kopycinski. Though all are now dead their words and music live on, showcased here in a series of powerful new performances by international musicians, including cellist Raphael Wallfisch, son of Anita Lasker-Wallfisch. Between them, these works touch on themes of loss, longing and cultural memory and address head on the barbaric and murderous regime at the Nazis' most notorious death camp.
Each is specially filmed at an emotionally resonant location in the environs of Auschwitz today, taking an innovative and contemporary visual approach to each highly charged performance.
The resulting film casts a fresh light on the place of music in one of the darkest periods of twentieth century history, commemorating its victims and reflecting on the power music had, amidst a cacophony of pain and degradation, to offer a note of defiance and hope.
PRESS FEATURES
THE GUARDIAN
THE TIMES
THE TELEGRAPH
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
C21 MEDIA
TELEVISUAL
ROYAL TELEVISION SOCIETY
***** [Five Stars]
THE TIMES
***** [Five Stars]
THE TELEGRAPH
***** [Five Stars]
THE GUARDIAN
***** [Five Stars]
DAILY MAIL
"Intelligent, chilling and devastating... will ring in your ears for years."
THE GUARDIAN
"Exceptionally moving... incredibly impressive."
THE GUARDIAN
"Moving... devastating."
THE SUN
"Stunning."
THE TIMES
"Deeply moving... haunts the viewer long after the credits roll."
THE PINNACLE GAZETTE
"A complex film of intense, harrowing power."
THE TIMES
"Challenges viewers to reflect on the atrocities of the Holocaust, prompting questions about humanity's capacity for both creativity and cruelty."
THE PINNACLE GAZETTE
"It is impossible to say which
moment among the 90 harrowing
minutes of The Last Musician of
Auschwitz packed the most punch."
THE TIMES
"Serves as both a celebration of resilience and a disturbing reminder of the absurdities of life at Auschwitz."
THE PINNACLE GAZETTE
"This breath-taking documentary will stay with you forever."
THE TELEGRAPH
"Such documentaries are instrumental for education; they remind us why we must never allow ourselves to become numb to the past, enabling us to confront difficult truths and honor those who suffered."
THE PINNACLE GAZETTE
"Any worthwhile documentary about the Holocaust will force you to stare into the abyss; fewer are able to dig into cerebral ideas while unflinchingly documenting the atrocities carried out at the camps."
THE GUARDIAN
"Excellent... poignant."
SUNDAY TIMES
"An extraordinary documentary."
THE MIRROR
"Powerful... evocative."
BELFAST NEWSLETTER
"Stunning... immensly powerful."
DAILY MAIL
"Powerful."
THE I
"Extraordinarily powerful."
THE TIMES
"Remarkable... her [Anita
Lasker-Wallfisch] story is astonishing."
THE TIMES
"Haunting, and at times
unbearably harrowing, viewing."
THE TIMES
"Pick of the day."
THE TIMES
"Outstanding."
THE GUARDIAN
"Remarkable."
JEWISH NEWS
"Heartbreaking... haunting and powerful."
JEWISH NEWS
"Powerful, raw performances, recreations of music played and sung in the camp."
JEWISH NEWS
"Rare interviews, haunting archive footage and moving modern performances are woven together to mark 80 years since the liberation of the camp."
THE GUARDIAN
"Documentary-makers have a difficult challenge – how can they make us look at and think again about the Holocaust? The Last Musician of Auschwitz found a way that was so stunning and so profound that once you have watched it, you will never forget it."
THE TELEGRAPH